BVAL Annual Review 2009/10

Index Chair’s Report

Page 2

Chief Executive’s Report

Page 3

Business Development

Page 5

Blyth Sports Centre

Page 6

Concordia Leisure Centre

Page 8

Health and Fitness

Page 10

Make-a-Move Leisure Inclusion Team

Page 13

Arts

Page 16

Catering

Page 18

Wansbeck

Page 19

Auditor’s Report

Page 20

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Chair’s Report In order to ensure that BVAL continues to be financially viable and can meet the challenges of the years ahead, we have entered negotiations with North Country Leisure regarding the possible merger of our organisations. This work is ongoing and time consuming for all involved, but is marked by a genuine desire to work together and identify opportunities to continue to provide first class facilities and services to the people of Northumberland, whilst addressing issues such as social exclusion and health inequalities. The two organisations are already working together in a number of areas to share good practice and provide value for money.

This year has been one of considerable change and uncertainty for BVAL, resulting in a lot of extra work for both staff and board members. However, it is to their credit that the quality and variety of the services provided has not only been maintained, but has been improved.

Local Government Reorganisation in April 2009 transferred the responsibility for art and leisure to the new unitary Northumberland County Council and thus new systems and structures have had to be learnt and new relationships formed.

Sport, Arts Development and Health programmes have been extended into other areas of Northumberland and BVAL has been able to provide management of the Wansbeck facilities on behalf of the County Council, as well as the Pegasus Riding Centre, Northburn Community Football Centre and The Sporting Club of Blyth. These additional services have been provided to the Council at no additional cost to them, despite increasing the choice and quality of services offered to residents across Northumberland.

There are a number of issues outstanding regarding Northumberland County Council and our work on their behalf for which we would welcome an early resolution, i.e. the Leisure Review, the management arrangements for the former Wansbeck area, the future of Ashington Leisure Centre, pensions and support services.

However, the overall message for this year is one of success. We have proved resilient to current economic pressures and the challenges of change and still have the capacity and will to develop and diversify. A special mention must be made of the excellent results of the Quest assessments of Concordia, Blyth Sports Centre and the Sporting Club of Cramlington. None of this could have been achieved without the professionalism, commitment and sheer hard work of our staff, who really are our greatest asset.

I would like to personally thank the Management team and Staff and my colleagues on the Board, everyone of whom really have given their all this year for the benefit, not just of BVAL, but of the Council and the residents of the County.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Chief Executive Report

now been turned around with work starting on replacement options for the centre.

Other sections of BVAL have branched out into the wider South East Northumberland area with Sports, Arts and Health Development providing services across this wider area in response to changes following LGR. All the increases have been carried out at no extra cost and some areas have seen an improvement in the level of service and programmes. Again this has been particularly challenging for the staff concerned and they should be applauded for their efforts.

This year following LGR has been another very busy year, with several major developments happening on top of what has been a very challenging process of bringing the former District services into the County Council.

One direct development from LGR has been the Management of the former Wansbeck Leisure Facilities by BVAL. This has been awarded on an interim basis and hopefully will lead to a more permanent contractual situation. BVAL agreed to take on the management at no extra cost to the Council and the costs have been brought in within budget. The staff involved in the management of the sites should be congratulated for their efforts as the work in Wansbeck has been particularly testing. Due to the condition of the facilities the Centres faced an immediate threat of closure by NCC once the county leisure portfolio was examined.

The closure threat was particularly immediate for Ashington Leisure Centre due to the age and condition of the building. The threat of closure has now receded and hopefully this negative has

Other facilities to come on line this year are the Pegasus Riding Centre, The Sporting Club of Blyth and Northburn Community Football Centre as with much of the other additional work these facilities have all operated without any increase to the Council’s costs.

Towards the latter part of the year the Council initiated a “Leisure Review�. This review has thrown up more questions than possible answers over the future provision of leisure services across the County. At the moment it is still unclear what approach the Council will take in organising the leisure services. However what is clear is there are a number of rather significant issues that will impact on the future direction and provision of the service. These are: the pension deficit, tendering the former Wansbeck Contract and the varying terms and conditions of contracts with suppliers across the county.

It is important to have these issues addressed as soon as possible in order for the suppliers to effectively manage their facilities and support the Council in finding savings in what will become very testing times financially. As part of the review process and the future planning for both BVAL and NCL there has been full discussions regarding a possible merger Page | 3

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 between the two organisations. Progress has moved to the detail stage and there are some structural issues that need time and effort spent on them before any further progress can be made.

Discussion with the Council on provision of support services has started. There has been little progress in this year other than the introduction of a shared financial system with NCL that will go live in April 2010. The discussions are due to pick up next year.

With all the external distractions and the downturn in the economy the main business has still managed to fare well with income holding up and numbers improving in key areas. Swimming is still a concern and plans for investment in Concordia for next year are in place. All 3 major sites have been through a Quest assessment this year earning a Commended accreditation. This is an exceptional performance for the first assessment and the scores are above the national average. Sports Development has been through its own Quest process scoring a Highly Commended, again an excellent score for the first assessment.

This gives a good foundation to build on for the next assessment in two years where the target will be to improve on these scores.

In summary this year has been a very challenging year with many changes and uncertainties for our staff to contend with yet the services have still been provided to a high level and BVAL as an organisation has moved on into new areas whilst maintaining its existing services.

Finally I would like to express my thanks to all the Staff and the Board for their hard work and commitment in these difficult times.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Business Development 2009-10 has been a challenging year for the Business Development team due to maternity leave and long term sickness absence.

In addition, to the many challenges facing the team as a result of Local Government Review.

Financial system LGR resulted in the team having to adopt a new financial system and procedures that were not designed to suit the companies needs and a vast amount of time and effort was directed to make these systems best fit. A decision was taken very early in the year to source a system fit for purpose and along with North County Leisure a partnership to source and develop a new financial system for both organisations was agreed.

After a rigorous selection process the chosen product was Access Dimension.

Training on the new system commenced in January 2010, with a planned go-live date of April 2010. It is anticipated that the new system will improve performance and control and provide up to date and timely budget and financial information to all interested parties.

Additional Support Throughout the year the team has also assisted and provided administrative and financial support to the following new projects and developments.

With no additional resource, at times this has stretched the team to the limit. However the team has risen to the challenge and continually look to work more efficiently and effectively where possible.

Information Services A major project for the team this year was investment in new servers and pc’s for the companies booking and till system (Gladstone). An overhaul and new build of Wansbeck’s system was also built in to the project to simplify and improve the current setup. Although the majority of work was completed a delay was imposed due to Northumberland County Council moving IT networks ensuring all services were working off the same platform. The team has also worked closely this year building a relationship with County’s Information services department to improve and maintain IT services to the organisation – this work is currently ongoing.

Marketing The business development team has also been working to develop the organisations marketing strategy to support all areas of the business to maximise their potential.

Due to limited resources work has been limited however it is hoped a renewed focus on marketing will be developed next year.

The year ahead The year ahead looks like it will be another challenging year for the team as it looks to make budget savings for the organisation but at the same time delivering support to the whole business in all aspects of its development and progression.

Northburn sports and community centre Pegasus Sporting Club Blyth Ashington Leisure Centre Newbiggin Sports Centre Burgham Horse festival Cramlington Town Council Merger talks with North County Leisure Page | 5

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Blyth Sports Centre The year opened with the centres first formal QUEST assessment in May. The self assessment group, consisting of staff from all areas of the Centre, continued to work towards an action plan compiled to meet the criteria of the QUEST assessment. All policies, procedures and related documentation were examined and reviewed. Following a two day assessment, the Centre was awarded commended status by the QUEST assessor. As a National Benchmarking tool, the score and commendation reflected the commitment shown by all staff and put the Centres score higher than the national average; an excellent achievement for a first assessment.

However, the final report highlighted suggested areas for improvement and the service improvement team are currently working on an action plan to improve the score and the service offered to the customers.

Swimming From 1 April, the Centre was able to offer free swimming to the over 60’s as a result of funding from a National Government initiative. The free swimming scheme is funded for two years and has seen an increase in participation by 30% by the target age group. Although the Centre was also keen to offer free swimming to under-16, funding for this target group was not forthcoming by Government to allow the Centre to offer this. This has probably had a direct consequence for swimming participation by under 16’s, as the number of visits this year was down by nearly 30%. The fact that a neighbouring authority offers free swimming to this target group has obviously had a significant impact.

Free swimming lessons have also been offered to adults in another national initiative and in partnership with the ASA.

The Centre also participated in the British Gas swim promotion, which offered British Gas customers a free family swim at their local pool.

Apprenticeship This year saw the first apprentice being employed as a Leisure Attendant at the centre. Under the guidance of the training officer and supervisory staff, the apprentice received training and development in all key areas of the Centre.

National Lifesaving Championships Staff from the Centre attended the National Lifesaving Championships and won individual and team medals. An excellent achievement, highlighting there is an exceptionally gifted team of lifeguards keeping the pool safe at Blyth.

Nursery Following a reduction in the grant to run the nursery a review of nursery provision was carried out. The primary aim was to investigate if the service could be run on a sustainable basis once the subsidy was removed. With changes to pricing and staffing arrangements it was felt the service could break-even. With the help and co-operation of the staff the new arrangements are now in place.

Energy The CHP continues to make savings on our energy costs as well as the environment, showing an additional 20% saving on carbon usage compared to 2008. In 2009 the CHP unit saved 286 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to 28,608 mature trees. Gas usage and electricity usage from the national grid were also reduced last year.

Sports Partnerships The Centre continues to work with key partners in providing sporting opportunities for children. The partnership with the Make a Move team has seen new Page | 6

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 Ability 2 Bounce sessions added to the programme, whilst the schools partnerships have added an extra short tennis session to their programme. The centre continues to be the preferred site for hosting School Sports Partnership activities and events, taking up the offer of a pricing policy aimed at filling quieter times.

continue to offer a valuable service to the best of their ability.

Events Whilst the Centre once again hosted very successful swimming galas and had the national lifesaving team utilising the versatile facilities, it was the hosting of a model railway exhibition which the centre will remember most. The Centre proved an excellent exhibition venue and new customers were attracted.

Sporting Club Blyth The Sporting Club of Blyth, a partnership arrangement with The Blyth School, opened its doors for the first time in October. Managed as a satellite site to Blyth Sports Centre, the site originally opened with a small gym and access to a small hall in which to operate fitness classes. Negotiations are still ongoing with the school to allow for the management of other facilities on the site.

So what will the year 2010/11 bring for the Centre? At this stage it looks likely to be a belt tightening year, but one thing that is certain is that staff at the Centre will Page | 7

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Concordia Leisure Centre The year of QUEST! Lots of hard work and effort from staff across all teams went into preparing for our QUEST assessment this year. The finalised self assessment and action plan were worked on with enthusiasm and dedication. This work was rewarded after a thorough audit and assessment of our policies, procedures and the quizzing of staff and customers resulted in the Centre being awarded ‘Commended’ status by the Quest assessor.

This result, for a first assessment is very rare, it ranks above the national average, and well deserved thanks and gratitude has to go to the staff involved that made this possible.

Improvement teams have now been set up and are working on areas that the assessor identified that could be improved.

Free Swimming On the 1st April 2009 the Government’s free swimming initiative began.

Northumberland opted into the over 60’s part of the scheme only, this was due to a substantial lack of funding to cover U16’s use. Usage in the over 60’s age group has increased by around a third due to this initiative but unfortunately junior swimming has seen a downturn, partly due to not being in the scheme when surrounding areas are.

British Gas has also had a swimming scheme this year which entitles their customers to a free family swim.

Concordia has seen the biggest uptake of these vouchers in the area showing it still has a reputation as one of the best family pools in Northumberland, although in need of some refurbishment.

Pool Work towards refurbishing the pool and introducing interactive features has begun and majority of the funding has been confirmed. It is hoped that the work, consisting of retiling or lining the pool tank and surround and installing the play features will be carried out next year.

Nursery Unfortunately due to funding constraints the popular nursery service at Concordia had to close at the end of this year.

Attempts were made to try and make the service sustainable but it was not possible, looking forward, to guarantee that it would not make a big loss. This has resulted in making three excellent staff redundant due to no appropriate redeployment opportunities.

Apprentice An apprentice leisure attendant was taken on in July; he developed well and was beneficial to the service. Permanent full time employment was gained in March and he left our company, we are now waiting for the next apprentice to start as it has been identified as a useful way to attract new staff that we can tailor to our needs.

Energy Savings The CHP continues to make savings on our energy costs as well as the environment, in 2009 605 tonnes of Co2 has been saved, the equivalent of a forest of 60,524 mature trees.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 Events One of the most successful events this year was the Christmas comedy night in the main hall. A marquee was set up and several acts were booked including stars of ‘Live at the Apollo’. A lot of the hard work was carried out by one of our own leisure attendants and upcoming comedian in his own right Kai, to who we offer our thanks and support. There are now regular monthly comedy nights on Mondays in our function rooms.

Concordia Leisure Centre looks forward to another challenging year in 2010-11 due to the economic climate and the continuing uncertainty of NCC. We will strive to carry on providing the best service possible to keep the Centre as one of the main attractions in the area.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Health and Fitness During 2009-10, the Health and Fitness Service has continued to develop new services as well as building on the success of existing ones. This year has seen the refurbishment of one gym and the opening of a new site. This has been combined with undertaking the management of health and fitness in two other local authority sites in South East Northumberland and the continued development of shared management of health projects with North Country Leisure.

Lifestyle Gym at Sporting Club of Cramlington The refurbishment of the gym at the Sporting Club of Cramlington was completed during April 2009. Usage of the gym is shared between the school during the day and community use at evenings and weekends. The gym was refurbished with the same Precor equipment and IT solution as Concordia and Blyth Sports Centre, but without personal viewing screens at the request of the school.

Lifestyle Gym at Sporting Club of Blyth As part of a new partnership with The Blyth School, a small Lifestyle facility gym has been developed. The dual use gym is situated in a separate building on the edge of the school grounds and is a conversion of unused classroom space. It is available for community use during the evenings and weekends.

The former classrooms have been refurbished and to offer the same high quality, state of the art equipment as at other BVAL sites. This gym does not have the personal viewing screens and IT solution due to budget restrictions. The gym opened in October 2009 and membership levels have risen steadily.

single site options for the smaller dual use sites. This was done to try and increase membership levels at these sites and has proved very successful. Membership increased from 37 to 79 at the Sporting Club of Cramlington and from 0 to 112 at the Sporting Club of Blyth. At the end of March 2010, there were 1262 members at Blyth and 949 members at Concordia Leisure Centre.

It is hoped that membership levels at Blyth will be maintained in the coming year, with Concordia increasing to 1000.

Ashington Leisure Centre and Newbiggin Sports and Community Centre During the year, BVAL took on the interim management of these facilities.

Assessing and improving the health and fitness offer at the sites has been a real challenge. A great deal of work has been done to consult with users and to improve the quality and quantity of the fitness offer.

Membership levels and usage have improved since the re-launch of the programme, but this growth must be continued in the coming financial year.

Fitness Class Programme The fitness class programme has continued to perform well in all Centres.

The programme now reflects those found in many of the national fitness chains.

Sessions are continually monitored to ensure that the programme reflects customer demand.

Lifestyle Membership Scheme Lifestyle membership scheme has been developed over the past year to include Page | 10

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 GP Exercise on Referral Scheme The highly successful GP exercise on referral scheme within the Blyth area continues to go from strength to strength, making a real difference to the lives of many of its participants. There were 652 referrals to the scheme during the year.

In addition, BVAL has continued to operate an exercise on referral scheme in Morpeth in partnership with both Northumberland Care Trust and Northumberland County Council. From April 2010, BVAL will become responsible for the exercise on referral scheme in the whole of South East Northumberland.

Partnership working with North County Leisure Trust now means that exercise on referral is run jointly across the county in all areas except Berwick.

Funding for exercise on referral schemes on a county wide basis has now become more established and from April 2010 will be part of NHS baseline funding. A detailed evaluation programme has been set up in partnership with Northumberland Care Trust to provide an evidence base for the scheme in the future.

Community Based Cardiac Rehabilitation BVAL continues to work in partnership with Northumberland Care Trust to deliver Phase III community cardiac rehabilitation.

Phase III is staffed by both a cardiac rehabilitation nurse and fitness staff, and involves twice weekly supervised exercise sessions and weekly education / advice sessions at each venue. Current venues are Blyth Sports Centre, Concordia Leisure Centre, Morpeth Riverside Centre and Ashington Leisure Centre. BVAL also offers Phase IV cardiac rehabilitation in Cramlington, Blyth and Morpeth. From April 2010, it will also offer this service in Ashington and Newbiggin.

These sessions encourage participants to make physical activity a life long lifestyle choice.

There is also a home-based cardiac

rehabilitation service at phase III delivered

by BVAL staff.

Cardiac Rehabilitation Instructor Training BVAL co-ordinated and delivered a British Association for Cardiac Rehabilitation Exercise Instructor course at Blyth Sports Centre during 2009-2010. BVAL also hosted a training course for nurses and physiotherapists during November 2009.

Further courses are planned for the coming year.

Walking for Wellness The walking Scheme operated by BVAL has continued during the year. 8 popular groups meet on a weekly basis and take part in local led walks of varying lengths, led by trained volunteers. There were over 7,850 attendances on over 400 led walks organised by the scheme (despite the bad weather in January 2010).

A successful county wide bid to fund the further development of walking schemes in Northumberland has ensured that that the scheme will continue to exist for the coming year.

A further group of volunteers will be developed, who will act as ‘befrienders’ to people with mental health issues who might otherwise not attend the groups.

Staff Training During 2009-10, the health and fitness service has continued to encourage staff to develop their skills and qualifications.

12 members of staff undertook the updated level 3 exercise on referral qualification. 14 members of staff now hold an advanced fitness qualification, with 2 currently completing the course. 2 members of staff have also gained a level 4 cardiac rehabilitation qualification. The service currently has 2 level 2 apprentices and 5 members of staff who are level 3 apprentices.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 The Year Ahead 2009-10 has been a challenging but exciting year for the Health and Fitness Service. The opening of the new gyms at the Sporting Club of Blyth and the Sporting Club of Cramlington have led to increased Lifestyle Memberships, which should continue to grow in the coming year.

The interim management of Ashington Leisure Centre and Newbiggin Sports and Community Centre have provided a real challenge, which will be ongoing during 2010-11.

Further developments to provide a county wide consistent exercise on referral scheme, will be an exciting and innovative challenge during 2010-11. The service will also be concentrating on further developing links with North Country Leisure to ensure a more standardised delivery of health related projects across Northumberland.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Make-a-Move Leisure Inclusion Team 2009 has been another extremely successful year for the service, despite significant changes to the structure of local government and the sporting landscape. As a result of the new local government structure, effective from April the service now has the responsibility for delivering sport and physically activity across South East Northumberland.

Despite the considerable change, the service has effectively delivered a variety of exciting projects across a range of different communities. The projects and activities highlighted below provide a flavour of what proved to be a challenging but exciting year for the service.

Quest As part of Quest (UK Quality Scheme for Sport and Leisure) the service undertook a comprehensive 2-day assessment scrutinising all elements of provision, including Delivery, Strategy and People.

The team’s exceptional work was recognised by achieving a score of 79%, which is in the highly commended category.

Play programme The continuation of the Big Lottery funded play programme adds value to the service by diversifying the activities on offer. The project has attracted over 3800 young people who might not have engaged in traditional sports.

The service successfully secured £45,000 from the Aiming Higher fund to deliver a range of needs led interventions targeting disabled young people and their families, which has supported an expansion of the Ability to Play programme.

The Pegasus centre The Pegasus dream was realised in September with the eagerly anticipated

opening of the new purpose built Equestrian Centre in Morpeth.

The £650,000 facility provides a base for a range of equestrian related activities targeting disabled groups. The centre also offers school and mainstream activity programmes. The project has already proved a hit with all users and community groups.

Northburn Sports and Community Centre Since taking over the management and operation of Northburn Sports and Community Centre, the facility is quickly becoming a hub of community activity. A range of sports and community organisations make use of the centres excellent facilities. The Centre provides a base for the services ‘Move It – Community Dance School’ which regularly attracts 30 participants per session.

Northburn is the home for a number of successful Charter Standard local football clubs, providing the full spectrum of football provision. A local primary school utilise the facility as a base for their PE curriculum.

Holiday programme Developing an integrated holiday programme covering the new expanded area provided a challenge for the service.

Despite tight timescales the holiday programmes were action packed providing opportunities for young people to participate in an array of diverse activities such as wave boarding, break dancing and fishing as well as more traditional favourites.

The programme engaged with over 5167 delighted young people from across the area.

The Community Games a prestigious event linked to London 2012 Olympic Games provided a regional showcase to promote the fantastic leisure opportunities available in South East Northumberland over the summer break. The event on the 26th July was a huge success with over Page | 13

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 400 people attending. Activities included ‘it’s a knockout’, dance performances and face painting. One of the highlights of the summer programme was a service record of 20 young people successfully completing the gruelling 140-mile coastto-coast bike ride. The young people endured terrible weather conditions and a gruelling 3-day challenge but they all completed the ride with smiles on their faces.

Regular holiday events were organised at Ridley, Peoples and Druridge Bay parks, Newbiggin, Seghill Welfare and Blyth Beach all proving idyllic settings.

Activities involved performances by the Move-It community dance school, futsal, treasure hunts, den making and the traditional favourites.

The events attracted on average 250 participants.

One of the highlights of the October half term was the Halloween ‘Spooktacular’ party at Concordia, which attracted a capacity 155 young people.

Cricket programme The Cricket programme in Wansbeck had another successful year. Through the chance2shine scheme 5 middle schools and 2 first schools received 280 hours of curriculum and non-curriculum coaching and games. Festivals were held at Ashington C.C and Bedlington C.C for both boys and girls competitions with record attendances for Kwik cricket and Inter cricket competitions. Winners from both went on to represent the area in the regional competition.

Club and event success Cramlington Vikings won their first ever trophy, winning the play off final at under 14 level. The club developed by BVAL, continues to receive coaching support but have their own committee and constitution. The Vikings have teams at all junior ages groups providing strength, depth and an excellent platform to build on this year’s trophy success. Ashington

Basketball Club is another club who have had a great year.

The service has supported the club with securing a grant for £600 from O2 for equipment and the development of their new senior team. As part of the Sport Unlimited programme 20 young people attended a Newcastle Eagles Coaching Clinic at Metro Radio Arena, which included a chance to meet the Eagles players and watch a game.

Druridge Bay Country Park provided the perfect setting for the National Schools Orienteering Championships. The team received a number of plaudits for the successful organisation of this high profile National event that attracted over 750 participants from across the country. The event was awarded to Northumberland as a result of the fantastic work within schools over the past 4 years. With an average 800 year 4, 5 and 6 pupils having participated in Orienteering in the Morpeth area this year alone. Not only was it the first time in 15 years the national schools event had been held in the north of England, it set new standards by including a disability category for the very first time.

Morpeth Paddlesport Club has continued to develop through working in partnership with a wide range of schools, community groups and other paddlesport clubs. Over the last 12 months the club has hosted, an inter club junior competition, flat water racing competition, a polo tournament and a slalom division 4 competition attracting large numbers. Morpeth Paddlesports success has been acknowledged through their nomination for the prestigious club of the year award.

The team worked in partnership with a range of organisations to successfully deliver the Sports Unlimited golf programme, which engaged 61 young people from the Wansbeck area, 8 of whom were selected for free tuition from European Tour Professionals including the household names Ian Woosnam, Sam Page | 14

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 Torrance and Costantino Rocca at Slaley Hall. Another scheme to benefit from Sports Unlimited funding was the Pools 4 Schools project which led to the installation of a portable pool at Ashington Sports College for 8 weeks in the summer term. The pool offered a variety of fitness and fun based activities such as aqua aerobics, Waterpolo, female only and Family Fun sessions.

The Make-a-Move team supported Tri Northumberland with planning and delivering the Ashington Sprint Triathlon, QE11 Sprint Triathlon, and Newbiggin Bay Triathlon. In total over 600 competitors, 20 of which were new to the sport. The Newbiggin Triathlon was the host for the first junior race along the promenade attracting over 50 delighted youngsters, all receiving medals and t-shirts for their endeavours.

On the lead up to Christmas the Make-aMove team presented the spectacular ‘Winter Wonderland Dance Show’ at Cramlington Learning Village. The event was a sell out with over 200 tickets sold to parents and families of the 90+ performers who took centre stage in one of the highlights of the year.

The annual Blyth Futsal Event hosted at Blyth Sports Centre was another success.

Organised in partnership with the Coalfields Regeneration Trust the event brought together a mix of local and regional teams, many playing Futsal for the very first time. After the competition all participants visited Croft Park to watch the mighty Blyth Spartans in action. The team hosted the Sport Relief Mile Event on Sunday 21st March at Ashington High School. 500 people of all ages took part in what proved to be an excellent family day out.

‘All About Me’ and MEND The service uses sport and physical activity as a vehicle to educate young people about a range of issues that affect their lifestyle. ‘All About Me’ and ‘MEND – mind, exercise, nutrition, do-it’ were successfully delivered, which involved addressing self esteem issues in young girls and obesity and weight issues in 7-13 year olds respectively.

Coaching programme The Recruit into Coaching programme targets a range of groups including unemployed and those who don’t have a Level 1 coaching qualification.

The project uses sport as a mechanism to gain employment. Already 12 people from the Wansbeck area have successfully attained coaching qualifications through the scheme.

The sports leaders community programme has led to 35 young people becoming qualified as leaders who are now active in their local community.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Arts Development Arts Development is responsible for projects and programmes that encourage high levels of participation and appreciation of the arts in South East Northumberland.

The department is managed by one full time member of staff with responsibility for both strategic and delivery functions.

Programmes are funded by Northumberland County Council and Arts Council England.

At a glance during year 09/10 There were 23 medium to long term arts programmes; An estimated 5970 people took part or attended; Overall there were 19 community groups and 8 schools supported; 63 volunteers took part; 74 regional artists or arts organisations were employed; and Total leverage achieved was £135k.

Good news stories Further development of our live music programme Smooth Sundays was extended to Newbiggin bandstand, developing new audiences and increasing opportunities for live music in open spaces, with over 2000 people attending the programme overall;

Extensive and wide reaching summer activities programme for young people

and families (FISH – Fun in Summer Holidays) with over 600 people attending; Countdown to Christmas programme across Blyth and Ashington with 2 Christmas light switch on events and 5 weeks of street theatre intervention in both spaces with over 1500 people reached.

New partnership development with Queens Hall Hexham for our Doorstep Pictures mobile cinema project. Over 450 people attended the spring season between January and March 2010.

External factors Year 09/10 has seen a dramatic reduction in outputs and leverage. The programme has been significantly affected by: LGR. LGR initially has led to reduction in capacity due to a large- scale reduction in staffing. The partnership working in the arts environment has reduced.

Uncertainty over the future has led to delays in decision making and the loss of some valued local events.

Extension of the geographical catchment area and additional Responsibilities.

Development work takes time, particularly when working with new groups and in a new area. Plus the development of the Dave Stephen’s Centre and associated management has taken up time and led to a reduction in capacity A reduction in partnership working.

Between 2005-2008 Arts Development was able to work with a number of other local authorities on partnership programmes which brought capacity and funding. Similarly Arts Development was able to work in partnership with a number of internal BVBC departments maximising funding from Regeneration as well as Community Development. One notable contributor was youth development money and funds for the over 50’s (in the Page | 16

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010 absence of dedicated workers at BVBC, Arts Development used to pick up on this gap in provision). In comparison with 2008/09 there is a reduction of ÂŁ81,000 leverage from those two funding streams alone.

The recession has led to a significant reduction in regional/national funding for arts and cultural activity.

Cancellation of large scale festival (what was previously known as Blyth in a New Light). This would have contributed greatly to investment and outputs scheduled for 09/10 in the South East area.

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Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Catering With total sales down by £50,000, BVLC has been unable to make a contribution to BVAL’s income this year.

Concordia Leisure Centre Concordia’s cafe faced ever-increasing competition from neighbouring facilities, with yet another two catering outlets opening in the Manor Walks shopping centre. Although our reputation for homecooked quality food continued to attract our regular customers, it proved extremely difficult to meet expected income targets and as a result, the overall performance has been very disappointing. Children’s parties proved popular and the Monday Comedy Nights exceeded expectations, but our bread & butter cafe service didn’t contribute as expected.

With over 25 years of service, it was sad to see the retirement of one of our Catering Supervisors, Pat Harvey. She had been a mainstay of the kitchen and our customers were extremely generous in their gratitude towards her. This however, created opportunities for others and we were delighted to welcome Paul Kirkup to the team, taking up the new role of Assistant Manager. We hope Paul will help to drive the business in the right direction and boost income back to expected levels.

new business; so much of our Catering Manager’s time has been devoted to the development of our new team. Tony has worked hard to establish a sound framework for improvement and the challenge to breathe new life into these centres has been addressed with enthusiasm. It should be noted that as this partnership with Northumberland County Council is still in its infancy, income and expenditure relating to these facilities are not yet reflected in BVLC’s end of year figures.

Vending Vending sales have continued to grow significantly across all sites, increasing the pressure on colleagues to support the service. With the appointment of a Vending Supervisor and an assistant, our vending machines are providing strong and reliable income.

Events The varieties of challenges presented by special events were always met with enthusiasm and our reputation for delivering a quality service was further enhanced throughout the year. Swimming galas, boxing nights, weddings and even a model train exhibition, all afforded opportunities to excel, which the catering team did on every occasion.

Blyth Sports Centre Customers have continued to enjoy the increasing range of options on offer in Blyth’s new cafe. With a superb location adjacent to reception, it has proved to be a very welcome addition to the centre.

Marylyn and her team have expanded the capabilities of such a relatively small kitchen and delivered an excellent service.

Wansbeck The facilities at Ashington Leisure Centre and Newbiggin Sports and Community Centre offered significant opportunities for Page | 18

Blyth Valley Arts & Leisure Annual Review 2009-2010

Wansbeck In June, BVAL were approached by Northumberland County Council to offer interim management support to the sports and leisure facilities in the former Wansbeck district. These included Ashington Leisure Centre, Bedlington Community Centre and Newbiggin Sports & Community Centre. In addition, a partnership with NCC’s Healthy Living team was established, to look after the interests of Cleasewell Hill Community Centre in Guidepost.

Initially, BVAL seconded Bill Sharp to lead the project, but following his retirement in August, Richard Calvert has subsequently taken on the responsibility of developing the service.

Most of the summer was taken up with digging for information on policies and performance and whilst BVAL had little influence on user’s numbers, it is very pleasing to report that existing staff warmly welcomed the new management arrangements. June, July and August did however, illustrate the great potential that both Ashington & Newbiggin centres offered for weddings and function trade.

The catering team demonstrated great enthusiasm and delivered a string of excellent special events. Wedding trade at Newbiggin was particularly vibrant.

September offered the first real opportunity to address attendances and changes to the health & fitness programmes met with approval from customers. The addition of exercise cycles and free weights equipment allowed for an expansion of the fitness class timetable and some key staffing appointments (from within the existing Wansbeck team) boosted the strength of the fitness instruction team. Town centre promotions and a series of Open Days also helped to raise awareness of the improvements BVAL had made.

Changes were also introduced in the Autumn, to enhance the general customer experience. Extending advance bookings to 14 days, the introduction of chip n pin, a wider variety of direct debit packages and single-site offers for Newbiggin, all helped to develop the service. Significant efforts were also made to enhance customer service skills, through a series of training initiatives.

Some small scale improvements were made to the fabric of the buildings over the Christmas period, with particular attention paid to the swimming changing accommodation at Ashington. A detailed ‘condition survey’ however, revealed the need for a significant review of future investment and the previous lack of attention continues to present major challenges in encouraging new customers to visit.

January highlighted the uncertainty of the new partnership arrangements, with NCC presenting Ashington Leisure Centre as a possible saving in their overall financial planning. A suggested withdrawal of £150k support to the centre generated a significant response from the local community and a perceived threat of closure attracted a great deal of media interest. Thankfully the proposal was temporarily withdrawn, but a commitment still only currently remains to support the facility until March 2011.

In a relatively short time, BVAL has managed to establish strong and effective partnerships, not only with NCC, but also with both the Ashington Leisure Centre Trust and a new Ashington Leisure Steering Group, designed to explore the opportunities for the future development and delivery of sport and leisure in the town. BVAL is now well placed to play a key role in this part of South East Northumberland.

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